On March 30, 2020, EPA published an inventory report on the supply, use, and trade of mercury in the United States, as required by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The report is the first in a series of triennial reports supported by Agency’s mercury inventory reporting rule.
Small-scale gold refining is a major cause of air pollution from mercury. EPA helped design a low-cost mercury capture system that is simple to build and install, uses locally available materials, and reduces mercury emissions by at least 80%.
On January 1, 2020, the ban on the export of five mercury compounds from the United States takes effect. The chemicals prohibited from export are mercury(I) chloride (or calomel), mercury(II) oxide, mercury(II) sulfate, mercury(II) nitrate, and mercury sulphide (or cinnabar).